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Serotonin Transporter Gene 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism as a Protective Factor Against the Progression of Post-Stroke Depression

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Abstract

Polymorphisms in the 5-HTT and BDNF genes are shown to affect their function at the molecular and serum level. Prior work has tried to correlate the polymorphisms with post-stroke depression (PSD), the results nevertheless remain indefinitive. A plausible reason accounting for the uncertainty relates to the small sample of each published trial. In this study, we have performed a comprehensive meta-analysis in order to evaluate the effects of 5-HTT and BDNF polymorphisms (5-HTTLPR, STin2 VNTR, 5-HTR2a 102 T/C, Val66Met) on genetic risk of PSD. Human case-control trials were identified by computer-assisted and manual searches. The article search was performed until October 2014. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the fixed effects meta-analysis to measure the effects 5-HTT and BDNF polymorphisms exerted on PSD. We also performed test of heterogeneity, test of publication bias, and sensitivity analysis to examine the reliability and stability of combined effects. 5-HTTLPR was clearly associated with genetic risk of PSD. The association seemed to be more pronounced in the homozygous model (OR = 0.34, 95 % CI = 0.23–0.51, P Q-test = 0.63). Both the heterozygous model and the recessive model showed 50 % decreased risk of PSD (OR = 0.50, 95 % CI = 0.37–0.67, P Q-test = 0.91; OR = 0.50, 95 % CI = 0.36–0.70, P Q-test = 0.43, respectively). Such significant association was also detected for Caucasian and Asian. These results were reliable and stable based on related analyses. Taken together, 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the 5-HTT gene seems to protect against the occurrence of PSD. Small sample size for the polymorphisms within 5-HTT and BDNF genes may have caused underestimated associations, and a larger study is required to further assess the relations.

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Funding

This research was funded by Baoding Research and Development Mentoring Program of Science and Technology of China (contract grant number: 10ZF014), Baoding Research and Development Mentoring Program of Science and Technology of China (contract grant number: 08ZF007), and Hebei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China grant (contract grant number: H2013201283). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital & PLA Medical School, Beijing, 100853, China

    Qiang Zhao & Xianghui Meng

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Baoding No. 1 Hospital, Baoding, 071000, China

    Qiang Zhao

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding, 071000, China

    Yi Guo

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China

    Dong Yang

  5. Graduate School, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China

    Tiansong Yang

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  1. Qiang Zhao
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  2. Yi Guo
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  3. Dong Yang
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  4. Tiansong Yang
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  5. Xianghui Meng
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Correspondence to Xianghui Meng.

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Zhao, Q., Guo, Y., Yang, D. et al. Serotonin Transporter Gene 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism as a Protective Factor Against the Progression of Post-Stroke Depression. Mol Neurobiol 53, 1699–1705 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-015-9120-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-015-9120-7

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